Running tips

Gathering and using as many running tips as possible is a good thing. If you have done much competitive or leisure running at all, you probably understand something about running that most non-runners never will grasp.

To the outsider, running is purely a physical sport. Whoever runs the fastest wins the race. Period. Needless to say, this is a very simplistic view of running. Runners know that although physical skill comes into play in a race, the mentality of the runner is just as important as the physicality of the runner.

Because running is much more of a mental challenge than many people think, it makes sense to try to utilize as many running tips as possible. Included here are a few tips that might be able to help you as you race and run.

• Let the draft protect you – One of the best running tips that a person who is running a race that is longer than 200 meters should understand is that drafting really can be effective. Drafting occurs when you stay to the right and to the back of the runner ahead of you. If there is any kind of wind that day, the runner just ahead of you is taking the brunt of the wind on himself, while you are essentially using him as a shield. This allows you to keep your energy and forces your competitor to use more.

• You are a wedge – Running into the wind can be a difficult thing to do because it can knock you off balance. It also can be mentally deflating because a strong wind can make it physically harder to run. A simple mind trick here can help immensely. When you are on a straight stretch and the wind is blowing into you, imagine that you are not a runner, but instead you are a wedge. This makes you feel as if you are cutting through the wind coming at you. This might sound strange, but it definitely is one of the most effective running tips for running in wind.

• Intimidate – You may not think that runners (with their skinny frames and long legs) look too intimidating. Runners may not intimidate football players, but they can intimidate each other. One of the best ways to do this is to run right on the heels of another runner for several hundred meters (depending on the race). He will not only hear your footsteps, but he will literally feel you breathing down his neck. When the time comes for you to pass him, it is important that you dig deep and pass with as much power as you can.

Do not simply pass and slow down a couple of meters in front of your competitor. You will want to pass and run hard until you are dozens of meters in front of him. This is one of the most effective intimidation running tips because it will dishearten your competitor. You obviously cannot keep up the pace that you passed him at, but he does not know that and may mentally give up the moment he sees you take off.

• Pay attention to form – The sprinter will pump his arms quickly as he runs his 100 or 200 meters, but as for the rest of us, we shouldn’t be pumping our arms much at all. Whereas the pumping of arms in sprinters can increase speed, if a person who is running a distance race pumps his arms, he is merely wasting energy. The only time when pumping your arms for a distance runner can be beneficial is when he is sprinting to the finish line.

Using these mental running tips will make you a more effective runner.

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